Your Right to Know

BERLIN — NATO would struggle to defend the Baltic states from any Russian aggression “with
conventional means,” Germany’s
Spiegel magazine reported yesterday, citing sources close to the organization and a draft
of a NATO planning document.

Eastern European states are nervous about Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region and
massed 40,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.

The United States has sent 600 soldiers to the three Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania — and Poland to take part in exercises to bolster NATO’s presence in the region.

“Russia’s ability and intention to undertake significant military action without much
forewarning poses a far-reaching threat for the maintenance of security and stability in the
European-Atlantic area,” the weekly magazine said, citing a NATO defense document.

Russia is capable of building up a local or regional military threat at short notice and at an
arbitrary spot, the draft document continued.

However, Europe at the end of the Cold War had concluded that “it could reduce its capabilities
for fighting conventional, large scale and high intensity conflicts in Europe.”

“While we never comment on alleged leaks or on our defense plans, NATO’s core task is collective
defense, and we will do what it takes to defend any ally under attack,” said NATO spokeswoman Oana
Lungescu.

“In light of the new security situation created by Russia’s illegal and illegitimate aggression
against Ukraine, we have taken immediate measures to enhance collective security in the air, at sea
and on the ground,” Lungescu said.

The Ukraine crisis has compelled the alliance to refocus on its core mission of defending its
members after years in which its main effort has been far away in Afghanistan.